Monday, March 20, 2017

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a vocal critic of President Trump, has hired a prosecutor who served under fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara to focus on public corruption cases, including those involving the Trump administration, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Schneiderman’s decision to hire Howard Master reportedly signals that he plans to target Trump and his administration. Master previously served under Bharara, who was fired after refusing to resign at Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s request.

Master worked on high-profile cases at the Department of Justice, including the prosecution of New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Eric Soufer, a spokesman for Schneiderman, confirmed the hire to the Journal.

“[He] will be working on a wide range of civil and criminal investigations and enforcement matters, including public corruption, complex civil litigation,” Soufer said.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Journal’s request for comment.

Schneiderman has a history with Trump, including a fraud lawsuit in 2013 over the billionaire's now-defunct real estate school, Trump University.

All the Russian stuff is very interesting and I don't mean to devalue the importance of those probes. If they do lead anywhere it's the biggest scandal in American history and the fact that there's any evidence at all to that effect makes it very much worth pursuing.
But I continue to be most curious about the Trump organization's global business dealings and the frightening conflicts of interest they present.

That may or may not have something to do with Russia but it's not confined to Russia. The state of New York has some jurisdiction over Trump's businesses so this could be a fruitful avenue of investigation. We know Jeff Sessions will throw sand in the gears if he can. But there are other people who will keep looking and Schneiderman is one of them.